“Fag!” “Dyke!” “Homo!” “Gay!” “Slut!” “Prude!” “Anorexic!” “Fat!” “Ugly!” “Stupid!” “Retard!” All of these names are things I hear everyday in high school. Bullying is a huge epidemic in today’s society. People have worked on discipline and bullying for years. I fear that now, they’ll have to work even harder.
Society today is absolutely horrible. People in general are so judgmental. We all judge people. It’s human nature. If you were to see someone walking down the street with tattoos, piercings, wearing dark clothes, stretching their ears and have odd hair, you’d immediately make an assumption as to what kind of person they are. Regardless of whether or not your opinion is right, it’s still a judgment.
Another example of common judgments is in the court system. If a man – who was accused of sexually abusing his step-daughter – gets into a custody battle for his son, with his ex-wife who has bipolar disorder, the man will get custody of the boy. Why? Because the woman has bipolar. The courts immediately assume that just because the woman struggles with bipolar, she is a horrible mom. Some people wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped them in the face.
Did you know that some of the effects of bullying are lethal? Bullying is a HUGE range of actions, and some people don’t know that. Some people bully, without really knowing they are bullying. Every 6 minutes in the United States, someone reports a rape. Rape is a very brutal form of bullying. This kind of bullying and more are becoming serious problems, and need to be taken care of as quickly and effectively as possible.
Did you know the top reason for teenage suicide is because of bullying? One extremely common target for bullying is towards people who are gay or perceived to be gay. 87.6% of teenagers over the years have committed suicide due to this kind of bullying. Did you also know that every 13 minutes someone attempts suicide, every 6 minutes someone commits suicide, and every 2 minutes someone is admitted to a hospital for suicidal ideation? Bullying is a serious issue. Verbal and physical abuses are both equally horrible. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me.” That saying is so wrong in so many ways. Words are actually what hurt people the worst. You can do something about this.
Another messed up angle in society is discipline. When previous generations grew up, they actually had punishments for when they did wrong. We don’t now, and that messes with so many teenagers minds. They want and crave attention from their parents. People nowadays just don’t care. At school, if you’re being bullied – you’ll be the one getting in trouble if you give the bully a black eye. The bully could potentially get mad and take things too far. I’d rather go home with a black eye, fat lip and bloody nose than not at all. Some teenagers act out when looking for attention. Such as using drugs, weed, cigarettes or alcohol. Unfortunately, about 36.7% of teenagers that smoke weed or cigarettes get it from their parents. Discipline is – like bullying – should not be taken lightly.
Society today is full of judgments and lies. While teenagers die striving to get attention to unworthy parents, many people are dying because of bullying, our government doesn’t care. Sometimes, I really wonder where this will lead us in the future.